


Tannenbaum

by lessiehanamoray



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Tree, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:28:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21937474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lessiehanamoray/pseuds/lessiehanamoray
Summary: Akira and Goro get a tree for Christmas and begin decorating together. Some crude humor.
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist
Comments: 4
Kudos: 45





	Tannenbaum

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Holidays, everyone! I hope you enjoy some ShuAke fluff.

The old van rattled along the dirt road, winding up the hills and mountains of Hokkaido. It reminded Akira Kurusu of riding on the tracks in Mementos.

“I’d rather be the car for this,” Morgana grumbled from the front.

Akira chuckled. His boss, Mr. Sakai, didn’t know this, but Morgana had called shotgun on account of motion sickness. 

More likely, he just didn’t want to have to sit next to Goro Akechi.

Akira glanced over to his boyfriend.

It still felt weird, even in his thoughts. Goro had confessed his feelings almost a month ago now, but it had taken Akira several weeks to wrap his head around it.

He’d always just assumed he was attracted to girls, but after a rather heated argument with Goro he’d realized that the reason he could never stick with a girl was because he wasn’t particularly attracted to them. No matter how amazing or beautiful they were.

Goro’s eyes slid over to meet his, though his head barely moved.

“Something troubling you?”

“Just admiring you,” Akira replied glibly.

Up in the driver’s street, Mr. Sakai chuckled. He’d taken the news his two employees were dating quite well. It seemed to amuse him, watching awkward young love. Akira figured that was why the man could stand to run a cafe next to a university campus. A lot of first dates happened at Cafe Dumas.

Goro ignored him, turning his attention back to the snow-covered world outside. Their winter coats nestled between them, but Goro hadn’t taken off his gloves. Originally, Akira had assumed he wore gloves all the time to avoid unwanted contact. While partially true, it turned out Goro just had poor circulation in his hands and needed to keep them warm.

He pretty much only took off his gloves when somewhere very warm.

The van was not such a place.

Hmm. Maybe he’d accept cuddles on the way back? Speaking of which…

“How much farther?”

“By car? Not long.”

Goro’s head snapped to attention. “By car?”

“We’re getting a Christmas tree. It’s bound to be a hike to find the perfect one.”

Akira looked out the window to all the Sakhalin fir which dotted the landscape.

The same thought clearly crossed Goro’s mind. “And none of these will do why?”

“None of this is public land,” explained Mr. Sakai, “but I’ve got a buddy who says he’s planning to thin this spring anyway. Said I might as well take one to decorate with if he’s going to chop it anyway.”

Ah. That explained the axes in the trunk.

Goro let out a low growl, his version of an irritated sigh. “So you’re dragging us to the middle of nowhere to chop down a tree in the cold.”

“No. I’m bringing you to a piece of property owned by a dear friend to choose a Christmas tree with which to decorate the Cafe.”

Goro glared out the window.

“I promise warm treats while we decorate,” Mr. Sakai offered.

Goro kicked his seat.

Damn if Akira didn’t love him. The combination of intellect and petulant child made him grin every time.

Mr. Sakai seemed to think similarly because he just laughed.

Akira definitely heard some grumbling from Morgana.

Rather than drive in silence, Mr. Sakai put in a CD of Christmas music from a female singer Akira didn’t recognize. Still, it was smooth and pleasant. Good music to alternate looking at the snow countryside and admiring his boyfriend.

A version of Ave Maria was playing when Mr. Sakai pulled to the side. 

“Everyone out and watch for cars,” Mr. Sakai instructed. 

Even Akira just about rolled his eyes at that one. They hadn’t seen another vehicle for at least half an hour.

Everyone bundled as best they could in the relatively warm care before stepping outside for final adjustments. Not in the mood to deal with snow, Morgana jumped on Akira’s shoulders.

One step off the road and Akira couldn’t blame him. The snow rose about halfway up his calf, plenty deep to swallow a cat. 

It reminded Akira of the ski resort near his home town. Most of that snow was artificial, but they kept it fairly deep. Plus, one year there had been an actual snowstorm. He and his little sister had built a giant snow fort that year.

Goro just stood in the snow, staring at how high it went.

“First time in this kind of snow?” Mr. Sakai asked jovially, pulling the axes and sled from the back.

Goro slowly nodded.

Oh yeah, they’d only gotten a few inches in town. The water kept things cold and wet, but they didn’t get super deep snow very often. The mountains on the other hand got bombarded.

“It’ll be a bit of a trudge, but the place he suggested isn’t far.”

Goro nodded, took a step, and didn’t get his second leg entirely out of the snow, falling flat on his face. 

Morgana began to laugh uproariously, right up until he fell off of Akira’s shoulders. 

“Ah! Cold! Wet!”

Morgana climbed up Akira’s coat. And then dive-bombed the front.

Getting snow on Akira’s neck. And claws in his sweater.

Damn that was cold.

Mr. Sakai helped Goro up.

“Morgana? Please get out of my coat.”

“No.”

“Morgana,” Akira bade.

“It’s cold and wet.”

Akira sighed. “Well, I guess you are a cat.”

He heard Morgana sigh. “Fine. Catch me so I don’t hit the snow again.”

Smiling, Akira pulled his friend out of his coat, cradling him in his arms.

“You should drop him,” Goro grumbled, brushing snow off of himself.

“And he should dump you,” Morgana retorted.

Without a word, Goro leaned down, collecting a handful of snow.

“Not while I’m holding him.” 

Goro released his hand, letting the snow fall.

Morgana looked up at Akira. “Don’t let go.”

Akira grinned. Morgana interacted with Goro the way he did with Ryuji, and he loved it.

The three humans trudged through the snow, Goro edging closer to Akira as they walked. Mr. Sakai, as usual, just shook his head in bemusement.

He was right about the trees not being very far at least. Up a hill and partially down another, sure. And the deep snow made the walk exhausting, but it wasn’t technically very far.

“Alright, boys.” Mr. Sakai dropped the rope he used to drag the sled. “Let’s pick a tree for the cafe.”

Morgana immediately showed a preference for ones with thick branches he could climb. Akira liked the ones full of needles and shining green in the snow. Goro gravitated to ones not much bigger than the sled.

It took a bit, but eventually they found one all three of them liked. Round and healthy, full of pines, and short enough Goro could reach the top. While bigger than the sled, it was apparently small enough to pass muster.

Mr. Sakai nodded his agreement and handed his employees the axes.

Morgana decided that made a good time to ditch. He clambered up a different tree, needles dropping to the ground as he did so.

Akira laughed. And laughed harder when a snowball went flying into the tree.

“Hey!” Morgana shrieked.

“Stop torturing the poor cat,” Mr. Sakai chided, “and get chopping.”

Goro began his work without complaint, but Akira couldn’t help but note his boyfriend keeping an eye on Morgana.

Still, they had a job to do now. Haru had shown him how she chopped wood once, and Akira used that knowledge now. It felt kind of nice being better with a sharp object than Goro for a change.

Between the two of them they got the fir down quickly. Mr. Sakai positioned the sled so they could easily drag it on.

Morgana didn’t come down until he could land safely in Akira’s arms.

“Alright, you lot, let’s get to the cafe and decorate.”

Goro shoved his gloved hands into his pockets. Time for the trek back to the car.

  
  


“There. What do you two think?” 

It had taken some rearranging, but they’d managed to get the tree in front of one of the front windows. Two of the chairs usually in that spot fit around it while the couch sat in the usually more open book nook.

Goro sat on said couch now, pointedly looking away from the tree.

Mr. Sakai sighed. “You talk to him. I’m going to get the decorations from upstairs.”

Akira nodded.

Morgana curled up in the window. He generally preferred to keep some distance from these conversations.

Akira sat by Goro. “Tea, coffee, or hot chocolate?”

Goro looked at him.

“To drink while we decorate,” Akira explained. “Which would you prefer?”

“Anything’s fine,” Goro replied softly.

Akira scooched closer to him. They weren’t quite touching, but they could feel each other’s body heat.

He’d learned early on to let Goro engage physical contact.

“Have you ever decorated for Christmas?”

The withering glare from Goro informed him, in no uncertain terms, that he had certainly not.

“My little sister got into it after learning about it in school. She always insisted on putting lights in our room this time of year.”

Goro’s expression softened. “I went to the popular attractions as a detective,but I just focused on taking pictures.”

Akira lay out his hand, just lightly touching Goro’s leg. Goro placed his hand, still gloved, on top.

“We’ll have to get a good picture of us on Christmas Eve.”

“Won’t we be in Kyushu by then?”

“I’m sure we can sneak off,” Akira replied with a wink. He turned his hand so he slide Goro’s glove off. “My family does KFC and Christmas Cake, so if we say we’re picking it up we should be fine.”

“Hmm.”

Akira looked around the cafe. Even undecorated, it was a cozy space. Mr. Sakai kept a variety of plants inside, alternating them regularly with the ones in his apartment upstairs. It made Cafe Dumas feel like a safe haven from the cold and brown of winter.

They heard a door close upstairs.

Akira wrapped Goro’s hand tightly in his own. 

Mr. Sakai trundled down the stairs, two large plastic tote bags in hand.

Goro pulled his hand away. Akira let go easily, though he didn’t want to. Even around Mr. Sakai, who knew and approved of their relationship, he didn’t like being open about it. Goro’s reticence bothered Akira, but he had eventually realized it was a discomfort with public sincerity, not just their relationship.

“Alright, you two. We’ve got small wreaths, garlands, lights, ornaments and…” Akira caught the conspiratorial grin on his boss’s face. “Mistletoe. I figure a little arrangement of mistletoe and holly can hang above the door.”

Mr. Sakai set the totes down. 

“Why don’t you two get the lights on the tree. I’ll work on other areas. Remember, lights, ornaments, then ribbons.”

Goro and Akira stood. Mr. Sakai handed Akira a carefully rolled set of lights. 

“The bulbs catch the wire sometimes,” he warned, “but I try to wrap them up nicely.”

Were these really Christmas lights? They didn’t even resemble his sister’s yearly tangle. Untangling the lights had been as much a part of the Christmas tradition as hanging them.

“Top to bottom or bottom to top?” Goro asked.

Akira eyed the tree. “The plug will be easier bottom to top.”

Mr. Sakai handed Goro a star tree topper. “This has some length of its own if needed.”

“Guess I’ll take the top.”

“You don’t get to top every time,” Akira retorted.

Morgana audibly gagged from by the window.

“Ah, but I have the star.”

“Which we put on after the lights.”

“You don’t quite have enough reach to put it on.”

“I can use a stool.”

“Resorting to enhancements now, are we?”

Mr. Sakai snorted from where he was hanging wreaths.

Akira grinned. “Fine, but…” he plugged in the lights, “I go in first.”

“I”m going to make you work for me,” Goro replied. He stretched to carefully put the topper on the tree, ensuring the chord couldn’t be seen from the door.

Akira took a moment to look at him. Damn that boy was tall. And damn if there wasn’t something appealing about the way his shirt rose slightly when he reached up high.

Too bad it didn’t take too long.

Akira handed him part of the lights, and they began carefully wrapping it around the tree. A few extra centimeters on Goro’s part definitely helped once they got near the top.

Instrumental Christmas music began playing in the cafe.

“Looking good, you two. I need to go up to the apartment for something again before you can start in on the ornaments.” Mr. Sakai examined the tree carefully. “Good.” He looked at Goro. “I just need you to get the mistletoe hung.” He handed the surprisingly real plant to Goro. “Be back down in a few.”

Morgana went up to the apartment with him.

“Not exactly subtle is he?”

Akira laughed. “No reason he should be.”

Goro sighed, but moved over to the hook near the door. Mr. Sakai hung a small plant there much of the year, but had taken it down once the weather got really cold. Now it was the mistletoe’s turn.

This time, Akira had the pleasure of watching Goro reach up high from the back. He silently thanked Mr. Sakai for granting him the view too. Winter wasn’t exactly the time of year for form-fitting clothing, but Goro preferred tightly fitted slacks, affording a pretty solid view of a pretty solid behind.

Goro stumbled a little.

Not one to miss an opportunity, Akira grabbed his hips to steady him.

There it went. Mistletoe now hung, Goro relaxed back down. 

Akira continued holding his hips, and Goro actually leaned into him a bit.

They used the same shampoo, but for some reason it always smelled better in Goro’s hair.

Akira raised his arms to wrap Goro in a warm hug. Goro touched his arms, encouraging the move.

Feeling confident they were on the same page, Akira kissed his boyfriend’s cheek.

Goro smiled slightly. He then wriggled around until they were facing each other, never leaving Akira’s embrace.

Goro kissed his boyfriend’s forehead.

They kissed each other’s lips.

Goro wrapped his arms around Akira, pulling him close. Akira happily snuggled closer.

It felt nice, feeling each other’s breath. Each other’s pounding heartbeats.

Akira nuzzled Goro’s cheek. He had such soft skin.

Both of them lost track of time then, just wanting to cling to a quiet moment.

So content were they both in just being together that they didn’t notice Mr. Sakai walk in with fresh cookies and hot chocolate. They didn’t even notice when he set it down. Or pulled out his phone.

And they certainly didn’t notice the quick picture he snapped.

In fact they didn’t really notice anything until Morgana called out.

“Break it up you two.”

Uh-oh. Akira felt Goro tense in his arms. Time to take the better part of valor and let go.

Sure enough, Goro was presenting Morgana with a rather fabulous glare.

Akira turned to Mr. Sakai. “Sorry. We didn’t hear you come in.”

“Don’t worry about it. Now, I’ve got cookies, hot chocolate, and Christmas music. What say you we get this tree decorated?”

  
  
  



End file.
